Korea’s Fighting Spirit
When I came to Korea in February 2012 to teach English, I was embarrassingly unfamiliar with Korea’s rich history and the struggles and triumphs that have made it what it is today. I soon learned that for such a small country, Korea has an incredible fighting spirit.
As a high school English teacher, I first settled in rural Gangwon Province. The town where I first lived, Sabuk, was originally Korea’s center of coal production. The town rose up against job insecurity and oppression in April 1980, a month before the Gwangju Uprising made history. When I visited the town museum, I met a young artist who illustrates through paintings the changes his hometown has undergone, from being coal-based to featuring the only casino open to Koreans. I began to realize that the more I learned about what was right in front of me, the more there was to unearth about my adopted home.
Since I already had a privileged look into the education system as a teacher, I decided that more deeply investigating food production was a wise next step in learning about Korean culture. I began to spend many of my weekends volunteering on farms through the website World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF). I learned that despite the onslaught of industrialized farming practices, there were still many people committed to environmentally conscious food production. Despite this on-the-ground experience, it would take me a full two years to begin to grasp the scope of Korean farmers’ struggles, and how my home country’s free trade policies are deeply destructive to their survival.
Continuing my journey of discovery, I visited well-known sites of struggle like Jeju Island’s anti-naval base community and rural Miryang’s fight against nuclear energy transmission towers – and of course when I relocated to South Jeolla Province, I struck gold. I came to reside in Gwangju, Korea’s human rights capital.
Still, I felt that something was missing. Though gradually learning the language, I was still struggling to find information about Korean social issues in English. I hit the jackpot again when I found the English-language blog of the International Strategy Center called Solidarity Stories (http://isckoreamedia.wordpress.com). This group is dedicated to connecting Korean struggles with those around the world. By joining the group and writing for the blog, I have been able to go deeper into modern Korean history and meet the people who are still making it happen. As a bonus, the writing requirement gives an outlet for reflection.
Sometimes, when Koreans hear about my engagement in the country’s social issues, they tell me that I care more about it than most Koreans. It could be that all over the world, citizens are made complacent to the problems and struggles going on around them. We are laden with debt, we are dependent on the things that we own and we are increasingly isolated from our communities. Still, I have met people in this country who believe that democracy means more than material wealth. Through marches, candlelight vigils, activist community sites, art, food cooperatives, natural living and much more, these Koreans of all ages are continually moving forward to build a better society.
Korea gave me a job and a place to call home for at least a few years. As a foreigner with native English-speaking privilege and an interest in social movements, I feel that the best way I can give back is by spreading the word. Go behind the scenes of the smartphones, the neon lights, the studying for tests and the image consciousness, and meet the people who have shaped Korea. Meet the farmers, factory workers, feminists, Buddhist monks, Christian labor activists and all the extraordinary people who are so often labeled ordinary. As a teacher, community member and writer, I can share what I have learned with others. I am always learning. Let us learn together.